1. calf, young bull — A young bovine animal, used literally in the NT both for the fatted calf killed in celebration (Luke 15:23) and for sacrificial calves (Heb 9:12,19). The two clusters differ only in grammatical number: singular (N-AMS, N-DMS) vs plural (N-GMP). Multilingual evidence confirms uniform semantics: Spanish 'becerro/becerros', Hindi बछड़ा/बछड़ों, Arabic العجل/عجول, Korean 송아지/송아지들, Swahili ndama throughout. No semantic distinction warrants separate senses; this is purely inflectional variation of one concrete noun denoting a young cow or bull. 6×
AR["العِجْلَ","بِـ-عِجْلٍ","عُجولٍ"]·ben["বাছুর","বাছুরটি","বাছুরের","বাছুরের;"]·DE["Kalb","μόσχον"]·EN["a-calf","calf","calves"]·FR["veau"]·heb["לְ-עֵגֶל","עֲגָלִים","עֵגֶל"]·HI["बछड़ा","बछड़ा!","बछड़े-को;","बछड़ों","बछड़ों,"]·ID["anak-anak-lembu","anak-lembu","anak-lembu;"]·IT["moschon","moschō","moschōn"]·jav["pedhet","pedhet!","sapi","sapi-anom"]·KO["송아지","송아지들의","송아지를"]·PT["a-bezerro","bezerro","bezerros"]·RU["тельца","тельцов","тельцу;"]·ES["a-becerro","becerro","becerros"]·SW["ndama","ndama;"]·TR["bozmaya","buzagıların","dananı"]·urd["بچھڑوں-کا","بچھڑوں-کے","بچھڑے","بچھڑے-کے"]
Senses
BDB / Lexicon Reference
μόσχος, ὁ, ἡ, __B calf, young bull, which form the god Apis was believed to assume, Refs 5th c.BC+: as feminine, heifer, young cow, μόσχους ἀμέλγειν Refs 5th c.BC+; πεζαὶ μ., ={ἑταῖραι}, Refs 5th c.BC+; ᾄδειν ἐπὶ μόσχῳ for the prize of a calf (nisi to be read ἐπὶ Μόσχῳ), Refs 5th c.BC+ __B.2 metaphorically, boy, Refs 5th c.BC+: as feminine, girl, maid, Refs __B.3 any young animal, Refs; even of birds, μ. χελιδόνος Refs 5th c.BC+ __B.4 μ. θαλάσσιος seal, Refs